Bitcoin Market Update: BTC/USD fails at a critical resistance, vulnerable to further losses

Bitcoin (BTC) retreated below $11,000 amid technical correction. The first digital asset attempted a recovery above $11,300, but the upside momentum faded away. At the time of writing, BTC/USD is changing hands at $10,920, mostly unchanged both on a day-to-day basis and down 1.7% since the beginning of Wednesday. Bitcoin's market capitalization stayed above $200 billion, while its market share settled at 62.5%.

According to the data provided by Intotheblock, 91% of all Bitcoin holders are in the green zone at the current BTC price. The 30-day volatility settled above 31%, though the momentum has slowed down.   

Bitcoin faced strong resistance

The Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index approached 500 level that stopped the recovery twice this year. The index measures the performance of Bitcoin and several other large cryptocurrency assets. Moreover, the long-term Relative Strength Index stays on the overbought territory, which implies the price is ripe for the downside correction.

According to Ed Moya, senior market analyst at the Oanda Corporation, we will need a strong catalyst for the next bullish move towards the record high.

Once you break past these levels, you’re going to see that interest grow and that’s just going to continue to add to that bullish momentum that should be spurring off of this dollar weakness.

BTC/USD: Technical picture

On the intraday charts, the psychological barrier of $11,000 coincides with a 50-hour SMA.  A sustainable move below this area increased the downside pressure and opened up the way towards the next local support created by the lower line of the 1-hour Bollinger Band at $10,850 and a former resistance of $10,800.  Once it is out of the way, the sell-off is likely to gain traction with the next focus on $10,700 (100-hour SMA) and $10.500 that served as a strong resistance area during the previous recovery attempts. 

On the upside,  a sustainable move above $11,000 is needed to improve the short-term technical picture. Once it is out of the way, the upside is likely to gain traction with the next focus on the upper line of the 1-hour Bollinger Band at $11,334 and the recent high of $11,414.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart